Sparta 500

Object number2007.131.48

Artist Peter A. Contis (died 1973)

Date1970

MediumAcrylic; wood; paper; glass

Credit LineGift of Helen Contis

DescriptionAcrylic painting on canvas. Athens city scene. Pink, beige, white, and yellow buildings. Church in center and on right top with ruins of a prison (where Socrates was held) above it. All accented with dots. Black trees with dots throughout. Blue sky and green hills. Dimensions30.875 x 1.25 x 24.75 in. (78.4 x 3.2 x 62.9 cm)
Signed"Peter A. Contis / 3-5-70" in white, lower right corner on art.
Historical NotesThis painting is part of a large collection of paintings and sketches by Peter and Helen Contis. Tucked away and little noticed in Athens is the Prison of Socrates. Located on the Philopappou Hill, home to the monument of Philopappos at the summit, is set of caves - many with bars on them. Popular tradition says that this is where Socrates was held and where he was forced to drink the hemlock which killed him. Village in Greece that is linked to the invasion of Turks, boarded up sides. Peter Contis emigrated to Pittsburgh in 1910 and began working in the restaurant business with his brothers. Peter later returned to his homeland of Greece and met Helen in 1928; they married three months later. Moving back to Pittsburgh, Peter eventually opened a restaurant called the Neon Grill in 1932, while Helen raised their three children. Nearly thirty years later, the restaurant was closed and razed, allowing the Contis' to realize their talent in art. A religious man all his life, Peter began painting landscapes, both of Pittsburgh and Greece, and other still lifes, focusing on God's perfect affection in nature: his buildings are symmetrical and colors are vivid. Helen's talents were not revealed until after Peter's death in 1973, when she began to paint poetically the landscapes and still lifes on her own. Helen died in 2004.

Related person Helen P. Contis (died 2004)

Related person Socrates (c. 470 BC - 399 BC)

Subjects